


How High Up This Mountain Reaches

by Purpledragon6



Series: How Far Series [1]
Category: Tangled (2010), Tangled: The Series (Cartoon)
Genre: Family Fluff, Gen, Incarcerated Varian (Disney), Varian (Disney) Redemption
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-21
Updated: 2019-03-21
Packaged: 2019-11-26 18:10:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18184004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Purpledragon6/pseuds/Purpledragon6
Summary: Taking place shortly after his release, Varian adjusts to life back in Old Corona with the help of Cassandra.Light hint of Cassxvarian if you squint.





	How High Up This Mountain Reaches

**Author's Note:**

> Unofficial sequel to "How Far Down This Place Goes". You don't have to read that one first, but it better explains who Bandit is.

There was something almost funny about it all. In the space of a few months- maybe a year or two- home had changed from one place to another, only to return to where it had once been, now just a little bit different... Perhaps a little too different, as Varian was quickly beginning to think. His home lab looked more like a memory than something tangible. Its faded wooden table and empty beakers felt like childhood toys. Old, forgotten, lost somewhere between then and now...

"Varian! There you are!" Cassandra called, 

Out of habit, the young boy automatically tensed up and wheeled around, expecting to find the tip of a sword or an angered expression meet him. Instead, he found her- a look of forced neutrality etched onto her lovely face. The look alone sent a shiver down Varian's spine... The knowledge that she would most likely never look at him how she once did made him feel uneasy. 

"Sorry, I was just- reminiscing." Varian muttered, casting a quick glance down towards an empty crate. 

He was under strict orders to pack up his things to make room in the house for the incoming occupants. His father finally being one of them, and the other-

A former inmate. A thief who Varian never expected to make an acquaintance with- but heck, most of the people in his life now were people he never in a million years expected to associate with. Hector and maybe  Adira would've outranked the thief on his list of wackjobs if not for the fact that they knew his father.

But an inmate from the castle's very own prison- it just helped to further cement the gravity of Varian's situation. To many he was still a terrorist of the kingdom and the reality was that his "freedom" was nothing more than an extended parol disguised as a royal pardon from the princess herself...

Not that it changed much anyhow. 'Free' or not, there was still damage that needed to be undone... Part of Varian hoped it would start today with Cass.

"... I can't help you with the move if you don't pack up first." Her cool tone brought him back down once again. "Rap said she'd be by in about an hour to help with the move-" 

"Thanks Cass." Varian muttered, gingerly picking up and placing a glass vial into the crate. "I don't have a lot to pack up. I planned on throwing most of this away."

"Your lab? That doesn't sound like you." Cass quipped, running her gloved hand over a dusty shelf. 

"Someone else needs this room, and- Its kinda part of the deal." Varian shrugged, "The princess lets bygones be bygones, and I never practice my craft again." 

"Ouch..." A grimace tore across Varian's mouth without him having to think of it. Cass must have seen it, as she then quickly added, "I mean- its nice of you to give up your home lab and all that for- whomever." 

"Bandit... She was my- prison mom? I guess." Another shrug, and two more glass bottles were placed besides the first one. "Dad figured letting her stay here was the least we could do since she took care of me while we were incarcerated... Thats such a weird thing to say."

"O-oh..." 

He could feel an awkward silence approaching that he wasn't prepared for. So with a deep breath, he continued to speak.

"If giving up who I am means we can all be free in this house together, then I can't say I mind." There.

"That sounds like it'll be a nice arrangement." A small smile formed on Cass' face. The first show of geuine kindess he had seen from her in a long time... It felt like the first flower of spring after a long, hard winter. 

"Y-yeah. It should be." 

An uncomfortable silence fell between the two and Varian felt his heart rate picking up again. He once again felt like Cass was his judgement, looming over and watching him, waiting for him to mess up again and strike him down once and for all.

"Let me help with that." Her voice wasn't what surprised him, but rather the way she so casually sat down beside him. 

Without a show of fear or resentment, she took the glass he was holding from his hand and placed it carefully down besides the rest. If he had been anyone else, Varian would go as far as to say that the act almost seemed friendly. In a sense, that was. 

"It'll go by faster if we both pack up." Cass went on, "Then we can move the new stuff in."

"R-right." 

Slowly, one by one, the memories of that room were stripped away. All his projects and works in progress were disgarded, either in a bin for storage or a sack for garbage. Books upon shelves and tables were removed, dusted off, and set aside for when they'd be taken away and donated to the local library. However, despite how rapidly empty the room was becoming, Varian couldn't feel it. There was no sadness or melancholy to be felt. This room held no place in his heart anymore. It was the root of a very large tree he had planted and let grow out of control. 

"Okay. Thats everything then." Cass called, the sound of a bin scraping across the floor echoing off of the now bare walls. "Now we just have to put-"

"I know." Varian cut in, startling himself with how weary his own voice sounded. "... I just need a minute."

"To say goodbye to this room?" Cass asked, and for once she sounded concerned for him again.

"No... Just a break." Varian hummed, lowering himself to sit on the floor. "This is someone else's place now... Maybe the root of a new beginning or something..."

"That's a good way of putting it." Cass mused as she took long strides over to him and parked herself on the floor besides him. "Thats a very mature way to look at this..."

"No. Its the only way to look at this." 

"...Who knows. Maybe it'll be your new beginning." Cass sighed. "A bigger family, a fresh start at life..."

"I don't know how a "pardon" equals a clean slate, but I suppose." 

"Hey, I didn't say a clean slate. I said a fresh start." Cass huffed. "Like putting on a new shirt or washing a towel. The old one will never be cleaned fully again, but its less dirty than what it was."

The moment she stopped speaking, he felt it. Something he hadn't felt in a very long time. The bubble you get in your chest when a geunine laugh is coming on. Despite it being short, this particular laugh still rattled his ribs and made him feel something again.

"... That is the worst analogy I have ever heard."

"... Shut up and take your break. Raps will be here any minute." 

There was a pause. 

"... Thank you, Cass."


End file.
